A unique tourism product created in the brutal face of the COVID-19 pandemic has paid dividends for a Tanzanian female-owned tour outfit.
The niche the African Queen Adventures found had sparked more interest than any other travel product, leading the Tanzania’s state-run conservation and tourism agency to recognize the firm as the ‘Innovative Company of the Year 2022’.
“African Queen Adventures performed extremely well among its peers in stimulating domestic and global tourism amidst the COVID-19 pandemic,” organizers of the 3rdTanzania National Parks Tourism Awards say.
The awards seek to recognize and celebrate tour companies and individual executives; appreciate their exceptional contributions to the country’s tourism industry growth and to encourage innovation in improving overall performance of the industry to the country’s economy.
Dubbed ‘Women-Only Travel’, the fresh tourism package then, which strategically designed to harness a niche women tourism market, saw a flock of both domestic and foreign female tourists in Tanzania’s national parks regardless of the dreadful pandemic.
Alice Jacob, the African Queen Adventures Chief Executive Officer and brainchild behind the innovation, is also recognized for playing a critical role in aiding the country’s tourism industry to rebound in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis, to leapfrog other businesses, recoup thousands of lost jobs and generate revenue for the economy.
“Alice is a sort of businesspersons who keep low profile, but she is one of the vibrant young female CEOs of our times. She’s effectively run her business through the storms of the pandemic, she deserves a standing ovation,” a high-ranking TANAPA official said on condition of anonymity as he is not a spokesperson.
She was among few entrepreneurs, who believed the COVID-19 was a blessing in disguise. To her, the pandemic presented the tourism industry with a golden opportunity for redefining its gender balance.
Alice said in an exclusive interview with eTN shortly after clinching one of the most prestigious awards in Tanzania, that the idea of creating the tourism package exclusively for women resulted from her passion to mitigate gender inequality and the quest for harnessing the female tourism market share.
“Women-Only Travel had turned out to be a hot product. Imagine, I had attracted 60 female medical doctors from the US and organized 700 women from Tanzania to visit the northern tourist circuit at the height of the brutal wave of coronavirus that pushed a significant number of businesses to close shops, driving millions of people into abject poverty,” Alice explained.
She and her team came up with various innovative packages to woo domestic tourists, probably an overlooked virgin market, to make her company survive amid the severe crisis.
Her innovation and sustainable business model have sustained jobs, fought climate change, uplifted and impacted hundreds of marginalized women and orphans in the tourism host communities of Tanzania.
It is understood, the African Queen Adventures had been giving back to the poor community in terms of water supply at Mto wa Mbu, a gateway to the Tanzania’s northern tourist circuit as well as basic needs for hundreds of orphans at Usa River suburb on the slopes of Mount Meru.
“We’ve invested heavily in improving learning environment to primary schools in Maasai land and in various conservation drives,” noted Alice, adding that her company policy is to share profits with poor communities and support conservation initiative.
Indeed, from the onset, the African Queen Adventures CEO had worked to build a responsible business that leaves a positive footprint in Tanzania.
Alice and her husband Joseph Julius Lyimo have become leaders in sustainability, integrating social and environmental best practices into every aspect of the business, giving back to the people and places hosting them.
“I am overwhelmed with joy! Honestly, I never knew one day I would be recognized,” says Alice. The youthful CEO with African Queen Adventures could not hold back her tears trickling down her cheeks when she received the prestigious Tanzania’s tourism award.
Alice is a modern lady whose personality and bearing have shaped the multi-billion-dollar tourism in her brief stint in the industry.
She could not control her emotions for several reasons. Key among them was memories of her decade-long struggles for the promotion of the nascent tourism sub-sector.
“Challenges are always there, but we should not let them block our way towards realization of our goals,” says Alice, adding: “We should always see challenges as opportunities for pushing us to the next level.”
African Queen Adventures offers tailor-made safaris in Tanzania that bring the safari dreams to life. The travel outfit is credited for showing tourists not only the famous natural wonders of the country, but also the hidden treasures.
It takes travelers from the best wildlife spots in northern Tanzania to the raw authentic wilderness in the south and from the top of the Kilimanjaro to the endless stretches of white sandy beaches in tropical Zanzibar.
